


Daydreamer

by bluemoodblue



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Lup is freed early, Memory Loss, it's mostly just Lup and Taako, little blurb of an au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 01:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13626111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemoodblue/pseuds/bluemoodblue
Summary: Taako has had the magical umbrella for about two minutes before Magnus breaks it.





	Daydreamer

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so! You may have seen this on tumblr a while back - it's a little fic I wrote for a song prompt (hence the title). I really liked it, so I thought I'd store it here, too.

Taako has the magical umbrella for about two minutes before Magnus breaks it. 

One minute it’s in Taako’s hands and he’s having some weird, buzzing connection with an inanimate, magical object, and the next Magnus has tripped over some uneven flooring in his eagerness to see, knocked it to the ground, and landed on top of it. There’s a loud crack and some smoke, which has Magnus scrambling away and Taako rolling his eyes because  _this is why we can’t have nice things, Magnus_ , and then there’s someone else in the room with them, and she demands attention.

She’s a lich, and she’s smiling, and she’s laughing. There’s nothing threatening in the sound, though her voice does have a strange echo; she sounds genuinely delighted. When he looks at her face the details of her features slip from his mind as soon as he takes them in, but he can tell that she’s smiling. She’s looking right at him.

“You found me. You  _finally fucking found_   _me!_ Fuck, Taako, how long has it been? It's been a while, right? I  _missed_ you.”

Magnus and Merle turn to look at him as if Taako has any extra insight about what's happening, and he shrugs. People know his name, but no one ever  _misses_  him. That would imply a level of personal connection that Taako just doesn't have with anyone.

The lich is waiting for him to say something, expectant. Taako clears his throat. “Well that's… nice. I wish I could return the sentiment but I’m having a hard time placing you, I do a lot of shows you know…”

She seems… unimpressed, and maybe a little hurt. “Okay, I get it, I shouldn't have left like that with only the note. It was a shitty move and I'm sorry. I should've… asked you to come with me or something, let you know what I was doing, anything else besides just disappearing. But  _fuck_ , Taako, I didn't mean to - can we do the ‘I'm pissed at you for leaving’ routine later? I've been waiting for you for what feels like  _years_.”

None of it makes sense, and Taako has no idea what to do with it. He'd like to drop the act, but there is no act; there's just him and this stranger and a couple of slightly-less strangers in this cave, and there’s no reason for him to feel like what he's about to say is needlessly cruel. But he does. “Uh, no hard feelings? Don't even worry about it, I've already forgotten the whole thing.” He waved a hand as though waving whatever she was talking about out of the air between them. The lich smiled. “Bit of an awkward question though, could I get your name? Seems that's slipped my mind as well.”

And, well. He couldn't describe the expression on her face after that. This time, it wasn't the fault of her strangely unmemorable features.

~~~

Her name is Lup, and she continues to have unreasonable expectations of Taako.

First, she wants him to get her on the moon base. She’s looking for some people, she says, for some information, and this is the place to look. There’s a holy symbol to deal with, in the Director’s private chamber, and he'd like to actually have the job for a couple of days without being arrested or literally thrown off of the base or some shit.

And he’d like to tell her that, but instead he helps her with her fucking break-in. He doesn't know why he can't say no, but it's probably something to do with the fact that she’s a very powerful lich.

So he breaks in and replaces the symbol with a decoy. The room isn't that impressive once Lup figures out how to get him past the security features; there's just a bed, a metric fuckton of journals, and a wet spot on a table that no one’s bothered to clean up.

As soon as Taako gets back to his room Lup is there waiting, and after that she's almost always there. She seems to assume that she’s welcome around him all the time, and she follows him around. Taako should be annoyed, Taako should complain about his privacy and alone time like he does to Magnus and Merle; he waits for the irritation to bubble up. 

And while he waits, he talks to Lup. Lup has opinions about  _everything_ , and she’s  _hilarious_ , and they click immediately. Taako finds himself getting used to her presence way too quickly. That’s dangerous, he should know better after Sazed, but for once he doesn’t care.

This is going to hurt later, but he doesn’t fucking  _care_.

~~~

Lup goes with them on every mission, which works out for Taako when he keeps almost dying. She’s not impressed, and she makes sure he knows it.

“Listen,” she says, sitting at the counter while Taako pours himself a celebratory glass of wine. “I’m  _just saying_ , there are better spells for not falling to your death. There’s a whole list. You could, you know, maybe  _learn_  one or two and save me from a second death by heart attack.”

Taako laughs and takes a swig of wine. Lup glares at him jealously and he sticks out his tongue at her. “Yeah, fantastic, except every single suggestion you’ve had has been above my level. Give me something I can work with and I’ll consider it.”

Lup frowns. “Above your level? What level are you?” She seems unsatisfied with his answer. “That’s  _it?_  Fuck, dude, what have you been  _doing?_ ”

“Uh, saving the world? Believe it or not, I haven’t been studying the arcane arts my entire life. Give me a chance to catch up, we can’t all be powerful beings made of magic.”

She’s still frowning, but she doesn’t bother him as much about his spell choices after that.

~~~

Taako doesn’t sleep well. Magnus and Merle both know about it, because it’s hard not to after sleeping by a campfire together for a few nights, but it’s not something he thinks to mention to Lup. She’s usually gone at night anyway, off to meet someone planetside and exchange information.

When he wakes up one night, his throat is already raw from screaming and there’s a figure in his doorway. There’s a lingering feeling of  _wrong_  and  _alone_  and  _something massive and unfathomable pressing down on him_ , and when the figure steps closer and reaches out he flinches back violently. He should recognize her, he knows that somewhere in the back of his mind, but most of him is still somewhere else.

She stays, but not too close; she sits next to his bed with her back against it while his breathing slows and he becomes more aware of his surroundings.

“Things are going to get better, Taako,” she whispers hours later. Taako is still awake, but he’s not sure if he’s meant to hear this or not. “I swear, things are going to get  _so much better_  for you. I am going to figure out what's going on and I’m going to fix it, and you’re going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”

He doesn’t know how she can make that promise, but he wants to believe her.

~~~

Lup has questions about everything.

What did he do before he joined up with Magnus and Merle?

_He tells her about the show, in the barest way possible. The audiences, the dishes, the success. “I just got tired of doing the same thing all the time,” he says, and he's not sure if she believes him._

Why does he get so twitchy when someone tries to touch him? Magnus looks like he gives great hugs, Taako should get in on that.

_Sazed. So much shit circles back to Sazed. He knows Magnus is different, a genuinely good person, but his skin remembers too much touch as a warning sign. He just shrugs._

What was he like growing up? As much of a little shit as he is now?

_He laughs at that and tells her yeah, of course. It was just him against the world, he didn't owe anyone anything and wasn't about to act like he did. He misses the moment when her expression crumbles for just an instant._

What was he going to do after this? More adventures?

_He doesn't know the answer. Maybe, he says. But I'll probably be alone, he thinks. Good things like this don't stay. Good people - like Lup, like Magnus, like most of the Bureau - don't stick around people like Taako. They never have._

He doesn't feel bad about lying about some of it, because he's pretty sure that she's not being entirely truthful with him, either.

~~~

He asks her if she saw the vision the chalice showed him, and she says no. He doesn't know why, but he's relieved.

( _If she doesn’t know, maybe she’ll stay. Maybe, just this once, someone will stay._ )

~~~

Lup is waiting for him on the couch after the date, and she starts wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively as soon as he walks through the door. He laughs and sits down next to her.

“Well?”

Taako is grinning. He can't help it. “He's such a dork. Lup, the Grim Reaper is a  _nerd_.”

“Sounds like that's not a deal breaker though.” She's grinning too.

“He's allowed to be a nerd because he's  _cute_  about it. You remember the accent?” It's a genuine question, because he's not sure how much she remembers about Kravitz after having to hide every time he made an appearance.

“How could I not remember the accent?”

Taako leaned closer. “ _It's fake_.”

There's a beat of silence, and then Lup is howling with laughter. Taako joins her, and he feels so comfortably at home that he should be terrified, he should be backing out of the room and making a getaway plan, but he doesn't want to. Them being here, next to each other, feels like a foregone conclusion. Inevitable. There's no need to worry, because this is how it should be.

He's not going to think about what's going to happen when she finds the people and information she's looking for, or they find all of the relics, or whether this good moment can last. For one night, he's going to revel in the feeling of being home and not worry about what comes next.

~~~

It’s a quiet afternoon on the base; Taako is sprawled out on the couch with not much to do, Magnus is off training, and Merle has gone planetside for reasons that he didn’t volunteer and Taako doesn’t care about. He hears the sound of a throat clearing and when he opens his eyes, Lup is standing over him.

“ _That’s_  not creepy,” he comments, and Lup grins.

“Do you trust me?” she asks.

“More than I should probably trust any lich.” She’s still smiling, and he smiles too. “What’s going on?”

“I found something I’ve been looking for.” Lup waves him over and he follows, through twisting hallways, a hidden doorway, and down a few sets of stairs to a room that looks like an underground hanger. There’s an enormous ship stored there, but Taako doesn’t have time to think about why it might be there; Lup is already walking up a gangplank and inside.

There’s a room in the ship with a tank, and in the tank is another, smaller, voidfish. It burbles when they walk inside. Lup doesn’t have to tell him what he needs to do.

Taako drinks.

Taako remembers.

Taako turns to his sister - he can see her face clearly, finally - and says “I  _found_  you.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then they storm into Lucretia's office yelling "What the fuck, Lucretia" and give her quite a startle.


End file.
